Suns Officially Eliminated from Playoffs

The Phoenix Suns’ nightmare season will officially not continue into the playoffs.

Despite having the highest payroll in NBA history, the Suns (35-45) have been eliminated from play-in and playoff contention after a blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Wednesday night, marking their eighth-straight loss in a total collapse down the stretch.

Phoenix has had virtually nothing go right for it during this season, and now the Suns will enter the offseason with a ton of questions to answer and decisions to make. 

Both Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal were involved in trade rumors this season, and the Suns will likely explore trading them again this summer. 

Owner Mat Ishbia invested heavily into trying to turn the Suns into a championship contender after last season’s first-round sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves, but also used a sense of continuity to build around Durant, Beal and Devin Booker. 

Ishbia had a now infamous quote after last season that has been a big talking point to look back on because of the Suns’ disastrous season. 

“Ask the other 29 GMs, 26 of them would trade their whole team for our whole team, our draft picks, and everything as is,” Ishbia said on May 1, 2024. 

“The house is not on fire. We’re in a great position. It’s not hard to fix.”

After this quote, the Suns fired first-year coach Frank Vogel and hired Arizona native Mike Budenholzer as their next head coach, giving him a massive 5-year, $50 million contract. Now, Budenholzer is more than on the hot seat after how bad the Suns have underachieved in his first season. 

In addition to coaching and star players, there will also likely be changes coming to the front office and the rest of Phoenix’s roster.

With the Suns regular season officially over in just two more games, the focus can immediately switch to how they can attempt to apply these changes for the better this summer. 

Ishbia and Booker have both openly said they don’t want to rebuild and want Booker to remain on the Suns, so Phoenix’s offseason approach will be one to closely monitor.